Brandon Williams molds 90s radio sounds into new punk with Chastity

RChastity, Material Girls, No Men

Sun 11/25, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $10

Chastity main man Brandon Williams grew up in the Toronto suburb of Whitby, roughly 30 minutes away from the big city. There his youth was dominated by church services until he became enamored with punk. At age 14, he began flocking to all-ages venue the Dungeon, in nearby suburb Oshawa, which by all accounts didn’t have the cleanest reputation; when it closed in 2008, Protest the Hero front man Rody Walker told local news site Durham Region that the Dungeon was “one of the dirtiest clubs in all North America," and pop culture site A.Side wrote that Behemoth front man Adam “Nergal” Darski allegedly said it was the worst venue he'd ever played. But out of those grimy surroundings, Williams emerged with a sound that’s positively clean. Chastity’s combustive mutation of grunge hooks, shoegaze melodies, and posthardcore fury is as amiable as the type of early-90s alternative radio anthems made famous by bands such as Dinosaur Jr. and Deftones; even Williams’s short-circuit screams on the chorus for “Chains,” off Chastity’s recent Death Lust (Captured Tracks), contain a boisterousness that could energize Blackhawks fans more than "Chelsea Dagger.” In 2018, Death Lust feels like an earnest gut punch of a punk album that just happens to be filled with should-be arena-rock hits. v